Nripendra Misra, Former Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India | Image:Republic Digital
New Delhi: The Modi 3.0 government will last for five years and will carry out its programmes, Nripendra Misra, Former Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India asserted on Saturday while speaking in an exclusive conversation with Republic Media Network’s Senior Executive Editor Abhishek Kapoor.
“I’m confident the next five years will be a very constructive period wherein interaction will be possible and dialogues will continue among parties within the coalition”, Misra told Republic.
Stressing that PM Modi’s 3.0 government comes with pre-existing working experience and relationship, the former Principal Secretary to PM asserted that the party had a majority before, but it had partners too.
“Let us first look at what is different in the Modi 3.0 government than the first two governments. The party had a majority before, but it had partners too…So, there is already some pre-existing working experience and relationship”, he said.
Responding to a question on the opposition’s criticism of Narendra Modi being unaware of coalition politics, Misra recalled an earlier discussion on the coalition dharma, and cited PM Modi as saying that the latter has a very constructive, living experience of bringing together the point of views and the parties.
“He (PM Modi) once mentioned that it was during the Emergency when he first learnt the art of working together with different parties having different ideologies and views”, Misra quipped.
Refuting the opposition’s criticism of PM Modi’s hold over coalition politics, Misra asserted that a political career should not be measured from the sole point of view of whether or not a particular leader has been in the government.
“He [Narendra Modi] has a long span of political career, he was in the organisation”, the ex Principal Secretary to PM stressed.
Noting that regional development will be the strength of the NDA government, Misra exuded confidence that there will be a “very healthy working relationship” among the parties within the coalition.
“The two leaders [Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar] who are governing the two states – Andhra Pradesh and Bihar – are national leaders with a nationalistic view”, he said, adding, “Our Prime Minister is committed to delivering and taking the country to a much higher trajectory in the next five years”.
“There will be a very healthy working relationship”, he added.
Furthermore, Misra expressed his happiness over Naidu’s recent remarks on PM Modi, saying, “I was so happy to hear a comment coming from Chandrababu Naidu that this is the best time we are in and he [PM Modi] is the best leader we have got who can take the country forward”.
Sharing an anecdote from his term in office as the Principal Secretary to the PM, Misra recalled how he was, along with many others from the selection committee, left surprised by PM Modi in the run up to Padma Awards and Bharat Ratna.
“During my period of service, when Padma Awards and Bharat Ratna were getting finalised, PM Modi took a lot of interest. He was almost proposing the names and I remember him asking the team to include Sharad Pawar‘s name for Padma Vibhushan. We were all very surprised”, he recalled.
Underlining that all the attendees are allowed to speak during the cabinet meetings led by PM Modi, Misra said capacity building is inherent in him (Narendra Modi).
“During the cabinet meetings led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, everybody is allowed to speak. The process may get delayed and the decision making may not take place on the same day, but nobody was ever asked to curtail his/her observations”, he stressed.
